138 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Febraary 23, 1871. 



perties, and I stil! sfdrm, having thoroughly proved it, that it 

 ia one of the best Potatoes in cultivation. 



I am afraid Mr. Eivers puts too mnoh confidence in his 

 cook, for he sajs, " they were found to be harsh and dry, with 

 a hard centre." This proves to me that they were improperly 

 cooked. I should advise 5Ir. Pavers, before pronouncing such 

 a strong condemnation upon them, to cook them himself, and 

 if one way fails, to try another — not that this Potato requires 

 any different method of cooking from any other. I do not wish 

 Mr. Pavers to become a cook ; but where the character of such 

 a noble variety is at stake, and when amateurs and others 

 might be misled, and be prevented from knowing the true 

 c'jaracter of this excellent Potato (tor the pen of Mr. Eivers 

 is greatly depended on by this clas?), it would be more satis- 

 factory if he tried them himself. This is not the first, second, 

 or third time I have known Potatoes condemned through bad 

 cooking, and I fancy myself to be an adept in cooking Potatoes, 

 for I have several times turned them out fit for anyone's table 

 when good and professional cooks have cast them aside as a bad 

 sort. — J. C. Lewis, Sudbury, Derby. 



HOW AN AMATEUR GROWS GRAPES 

 SUCCESSFULLY. 



Having satisfied myself that it is a very easy and pleasant 

 occupation to successfully grow Grapes under glass with scarcely 

 any artificial heat, and at a very moderate cost, without neglect- 

 ing my usual daily employment (being absent from home ten 

 hours per day), I feel desirous of stating what i have done 

 during the last three years. 



3Iy residence is about a mile from one of the central towns, 

 and it being a detached cottage facing the west, I was recom- 

 mended to build a lean-to glass house on the soath side as a 

 vinery and general greenhouse. A builder, who knew his 

 business, contracted for £30 to erect one the full length of my 

 dwelling, 30 feet long, 9 wide, 8 high in front, and 13 at back, 

 with a door leadiag directly into my dining-room and one into 

 the garden. I then put a doable row of 3-inch piping for hot 

 water, about 90 feet in all, along the front and both ends, partly 

 below the floor for tho convenience of the door, the remainder 

 about 6 inches above the floor, and covered with latticework ; 

 on the outside, at one end, I had a pit dug 5 feet deep and 

 3 wide to hold a small copper boiler for heating the water by 

 gas. This apparatus complete, including piping and fixing, 

 cost £15, and it answers admirably. 



Being quite ignorant of Vine culture I wrote to your ofiioe 

 for the " Vine Manual,'' which I road carefully, and, in addi- 

 tion, asked the advice of an old gardener, who recommended 

 me to make an onttide border, 3 feet wide and 2 J deep, along 

 the front and ends of my new house. This border was com- 

 posed of two kinds of tiirf, quite fresh, from heavy and light 

 soil, cut up into pieces from 3 to 6 inches square — three bar- 

 rowloads ; of light loam two barrowloads, and about one bar- 

 row filled with lime rubbish, oyster shells, small bones, and 

 horse manure. Being a light porous subsoil, no drainage was 

 required. The border was elevated 6 inches above the sur- 

 ronnding ground, gradually sloping from the house, and finished 

 in February, IS6S, the materials being mixed together before 

 they were put into the hole. 



In about six weeks, having given the border time to settle, I 

 sent the gardener to a Vine-grower for some year-old plants ; 

 he bought two Black Eamburghs. two Alicantes, and one Old 

 White Tokay for, I think, 30.5. They were set in April, 1868, 

 not more than 1 inch deep, and the canes brought into the 

 house through holes in the wall a little below the level of the 

 border. Over the roots of each was put half a barrowful of 

 light, fresh stable manure, to produce warmth and to encourage 

 growth. The Vines soon began to gi'ow, and were allowed for the 

 first year to run over the house without any pruning, and only 

 one bunch of Grapes was left to each. They were cut down 

 in January, 1869, leaving two or three good canes to each ; 

 next season they were permitted to grow freely with very little 

 pruning, and to bear five bunches of fruit each. 1870 brought 

 me good, strong, healthy Vines, with from forty to fifty bunches 

 of Grapes upon each. I allowed one hundred and fifty to 

 ripen, and began to cut the fruit early in October, and continued 

 cutting till January loth, when I had 30 lbs. of good, sound 

 Grapes, having had nearly 130 lbs. of fresh ripe fruit during 

 the season — four months ; some of them are not eaten yet, 

 February 10th. 



The cost in labour has not been 10s. since they were first 

 planted. I only employ a man to cut the Vines down in 



January, and to paint them over with a mixture of soft soap and 

 sulphur. I let the canes lie down until they have started in 

 spring, then tie them up to the wire fixed crcssways in the 

 rafters, and continue this about once a-fortnight during the 

 season. 



Tho most troublesome job was thinning the fruit. I cut 

 away several pounds' weight of Grapes, and yet I am told I 

 should have had much finer fruit had I thinned them more. 

 All branches bearing fruit I kept well pruned back to the second 

 joint, excepting the thickest leading canes, which were allowed 

 to make strong new wood for another season. 



I find the most particular times are while the Vines are in 

 flower, and in September when the fruit and wood require to 

 be well ripened. The latter period was the only one at which 

 I required to use artificial heat, but it is most important that 

 the wood should be of a nut-brown colour, and thoroughly 

 ripened. 



Ia spring and autumn I have the house shut up early in the 

 afternoon with a little air ; in summer the top ventilators re- 

 main open day and night. My maxim is. Always give air, 

 much or little, aocordimg to season, when the sun shines, and 

 not any artificial heat, excepting on cold days in September, 

 and then give all you can with plenty of air. 



Were it not for my general collection of plants I should not 

 require the gus on during more than twenty days in the year ; 

 as it is, the number of days on which I use it does not exceed 

 forty in ordinary seasons. My house being well sheltered from 

 the north winds, 5" or 6° of frost are of no consequence, pro- 

 viding it is well shut up. My better half soon learned these 

 few rules of ventilation, and thus our united efforts have been 

 crowned with success. — F. H, W. 



ICE ON GLASS ROOFS— GLAZING— HEATING. 



We have been struck with the very timely and useful remarks 

 of Mr. Pearson at page 63. The house referred to at page 50 

 £3 having a short terminal square of zinc resting on the wood 

 in front, instead of the glass coming down all the way, ia the 

 steepest-roofed house we have, the roof coming down to within 

 a foot of the ground, and the front sashes as well as those at 

 the back are moveable. The roof is at an angle of 45° ; the 

 steepness, therefore, was all in its favour, yet from the snow 

 melting and sliding down outside, and condensed moisture 

 trickling down inside, there was a few days ago a ridge of ice 

 along the front of the house fnlly 4 inches deep, resting on 

 the wood of the sash, the zinc, and a little on the glass. We 

 allowed it to thaw before moving it, being afraid to break 

 it off lest we might injure the glass. This house is 50 feet 

 in length, and as yet only one square has been broken by the 

 frost, and that close to the zinc. The squares ore rather small 

 — about 8 inches ; and as so far confirmatory of Mr. Pearson's 

 remarks, they are cut on the cru've instead of the square, and 

 with rather better than one-eighth of an inch of lap. Ths 

 rounded lap looks the neatest, but we cannot say that in past 

 times we have found it stand frost better than those cut straight 

 across. The statement of Mr. Pearson is therefore all the more 

 important, and we trust that ethers will note and report their 

 experience on this matter. Then, again, were we putting up 

 new orchard houses we would follow Mr. Pearson in using 

 glass 14, 15, or 16 inches wide instead of 20 inches or wider. 

 Such a size is not only more secure but more easily repaired 

 when there is a breakage. As to weight, most of us would 

 prefer 21-oz. to 15-oz. glass if we could get it. We would have 

 no objection to even a much heavier good glass, believing that 

 it would not only be more secure in genera!, but act in some 

 degree as a regulator of temperature. There is just one fact 

 that came under our notice that we would like to mention, 

 and we would be glad to know if any reader has met with a 

 corroborative case. A severe summer hailstorm that cracked 

 and broke a good deal of 21-oz. glass, scarcely cracked B square 

 of 16-oz. glass. We expected to see roofs of squares 20 inches 

 wide riddled, and at some risk to face and hands turned out to 

 see the smash which we would be powerless to prevent. It 

 was a pretty sight, nevertheless. The 15-oz. glass yielded and 

 gave to the hailstones, and was uninjured. The heavier glass 

 did not yield, and was cracked and broken. This is the solitary 

 case that we know, in which the thinner lighter glass proved 

 superior to the heavy glass. 



Then the testimony of Mr. Pearson is most important as to 

 the bad results of dispensing with laps, and placing the nicely 

 cut squares edge to edge. A great many roofs have been 

 covered in this way, agreat number, we believe, on the patented 



